Author: Heidi Kay Smith

Biology PhD student on the cusp of finishing and moving on to a postdoc in the behavioral ecology of amphibians. I blog to share my thoughts, ideas, and general feelings of awe of the natural world.

Meet the Backwards Butterfly

A few days ago, a colleague of mine was visiting. When I say colleague, I clearly mean friend that is also a biologist, but I like to pretend that we’re not just up all night drinking and talking about polyandry in frogs. Amidst the usual back and forth game of “no way…did you see that new species they found in wherever”, he mentioned a backwards butterfly. “Did you know about the butterfly that has coloration on its wings to make it look like it’s backwards?” …”uh…no…is that really a thing?”

Photo Credit:Rick Cech Tambopata Research Center, Peru
Photo Credit:Rick Cech
Tambopata Research Center, Peru

When my friend shared the picture I had no reply (which almost never happens). Damn. Evolution you are amazing. High five natural selection…high fives all around.

Behold the Zebra Hairstreak (Panthiades bathildis)… Not only are the stripes on the wings going the wrong way, but the ends of the wings look like antennae. Continue reading “Meet the Backwards Butterfly”

Meet the Tuatara

“Tuatara, Nga Manu, Waikanae, New Zealand, 15 April 2006” – Photo: PhilipC, Contrast Enhanced: Samsara (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)

The tuatara is often referred to as a living fossil because his buddies went extinct around 100 million years. They live in New Zealand and there are two species.

There have been reports of tuataras living up to 200 years. Henry the proud new father in the video below is 111!

“Meet the…” is a collaboration between The Finch & Pea and Nature Afield to bring Nature’s amazing creatures into your home.

Meet the Pangolin

pangolin-tongueThe pangolin (Order: Pholidota) is a mammal covered in keratin scales. They can be found in Asia as well as Africa and their size ranges from 1 foot to just over 3 feet. These weirdo cuties eat thousands of ants everyday. Their oversized claws help them dig out ant colonies. As the video below explains, the pangolin uses its super-long tongue to reach the ants. Oh yeah and when it wants to protect itself from predators it pulls an 80s style popple move and rolls up into a tight ball.

Photo credit: Mark Sheridan-Johnson
Photo credit: Mark Sheridan-Johnson

“Meet the…” is a collaboration between The Finch & Pea and Nature Afield to bring Nature’s amazing creatures into your home.

Meet the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect

Photo credit: Rod Morris http://www.rodmorris.co.nz

Dryoceocelus australis lives solely on an island group in Australia. They were thought to be extinct after 1930 until two dozen were spotted again in 2001. The IUCN lists them as critically endangered currently.

Read more here about the conservation efforts by zoos in Australia to ensure the species survival.

Pair bonding between the male and females has been reported, but is not definitive. Anecdotal evidence suggests the Lord Howe stick insects are gregarious and thus finding a male and female together may just be the expression of this trait. Research from Patrick Honan in 2008, examined 9 pairs from the Melbourne Zoo found that the behavior was consistent for each pair daily, but varied depending on the pair. Some pairs were always found together, but in some cases the female would be found in the nesting box and the male outside the nesting box.

Finally, here is an amazing video of hatching Lord Howe island stick insects from Zoos Victoria if you haven’t seen it already.

Lord Howe Island Stick Insect hatching from Zoos Victoria on Vimeo.

“Meet the…” is a collaboration between The Finch & Pea and Nature Afield to bring Nature’s amazing creatures into your home.

 

Meet the Alligator Snapping Turtle

Alligator Snapping Turtle, Photo Credit: Melissa MB Wilkins (CC BY-NC 2.0)

The Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macroclemys temmincki) is the largest freshwater turtle. It has a pointed break and a vermiform (wormlike) tongue, which acts as a lure for fish as the turtle sits on the murky bottoms of ponds and bodies of water.

Check out a video of the Alligator Snapping Turtle feeding courtesy of ARKive.

“Meet the…” is a collaboration between The Finch & Pea and Nature Afield to bring Nature’s amazing creatures into your home.